How to Host a Cheap, but Nice Graduation Party [Updated 2018]

Hosting a cheap, but nice graduation party, would be nice, wouldn’t it? Deli trays, balloons, invites, decorations and tent rentals add up very quickly. It is not difficult to do, as long as you are willing to be creative and maybe go slightly counter-culture.

As you read through this list keep your thinking cap on for other ways you have or could save money on a graduation party and leave a comment with your thoughts.

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The easiest way to cut the bill in half or in thirds, without changing anything on the menu, is to share the party with another graduate or two. Personally, I held a joint high school graduation party with a friend. Whether it is a significant other or a tight knit group of friends, think of one or two students that are important in your student’s life and coordinate a joint party. Besides reducing cost, I bet your graduates will think it’s a blast to hang out with their friends for the day and your guests might appreciate not having to run from house to house.

Tent and chair rental. With a much larger group skip hosting your graduation party in your garage or back yard. Instead, opt for a beautiful park. Most regional and state parks in the Minneapolis area have picnic pavilions that are well-suited for outdoor entertaining with pavilions in case of rain and electricity so you can enjoy some of the comforts of home. You will pay a rental fee for the pavilion, but you don’t have to worry about tent and chair delivery and set-up or even cleaning your house (and wouldn’t that be nice!).

Food costs. You will likely have fewer total mouths to feed since many of their friends and teachers will be the same. For great deals on food, choosing stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, and Walmart can score big savings. By getting all the supplies yourself instead of choosing a catering service, you will save a substantial amount of money.

Decorations. One larger party requires far fewer decorations than two slightly smaller parties. Again, if sharing the party with another graduate or two is out of the question, then consider at least sharing the decorations. Find someone who is hosting their graduation party the same weekend you are and split the cost of helium balloons, centerpieces, and table coverings. For graduation decoration deals on items such as cups, plates, and table cloths, I love Michaels. I have scored some amazing deals at Michaels for parties.

At my brother’s last graduation party, we got this super cool lightbox that can be customized for literally every occasion. It can be customized to say anything and can be continuously reused to add a little spizzazz to the party. At my brother’s graduation, we set it up to say: “Congrats Ryan! You Did it!”

Food

Standard fare for a graduation party is not only expensive, but b-o-r-i-n-g (no offense). Think creatively about what food your graduate loves that represents who they are and serve that instead. Me, coming from an Italian family, loves pasta with my grandma’s homemade sauce. My mom cooked up a ginormous batch of that, we found a way to keep pasta warm all day without it turning to mush, and offered small pieces of Italian sausage or meatballs.

We added some French bread and a simple garden salad on the side with a host of salad dressings to choose from and voila! We fed a crowd almost the size of an army without breaking the bank. We also received a ton of compliments on the food and appreciation from teachers, especially, who attend a lot of parties, for not having turkey and ham sandwiches.

If you have to serve sandwiches, try pulled pork sandwiches instead of deli meats. A pork shoulder is less than $3/lb full price at most grocery stores and at my local Walmart it is $2.74/lb. Slow cook the meat in a slow cooker days in advance, pull it apart with a fork, then freeze it in plastic bags until the day before. Set it in the fridge the morning before the party to defrost, then the day of toss it into a slow cooker, add barbecue sauce and you’re set.

A pound of pork shoulder will likely feed 3 or 4 adults, making the meat as little as ~$0.70 per serving, plus a bun. You can’t beat that price. We started making pulled pork sandwiches at home this summer and they were as easy as I say, the meat does freeze well and my family loves them!

Invites, Decorations and Thank You Notes

Why pay anything, let alone full price, for paper products like invites and thank you notes? Get creative with the decorations and you’ll spend less, too.

Free photo prints. It is easy to get free photo prints and they are versatile to use for invites, decorations and thank you notes. When you create a new free account with many of the online photo services you will get a certain number of prints totally free. Take some time to paste them to the front of plain cards for a handmade invite or thank you. Make a collage depicting your graduate’s life and accomplishments. Set them out at the tables where your guests will eat, then use a plastic tablecloth over the top instead of fancy centerpieces.

Here’s a starting list of photo sites that will give you free prints when you register:

Shutterfly. Get 50 free prints when you create a new account. (You won’t see this advertised on the front page where you land, but they will get credited to your account.)

Photo slideshow. Skip paying someone to put together your slideshow for you. Instead, download a free copy of Microsoft’s Photo Story software. It is simple to easy. You upload digital photos (have old-time prints scanned to get them into the computer), then order them, set the speed, choose music and transition effects and you’re set. You can run this from a computer or laptop at the party, or burn it to a DVD and then play it on your television set. It is a fun and inexpensive way to show off your graduate’s life.

Your turn: What else can you do to host a cheap, but nice graduation party?

This is my first graduation
Party. My daughter wants a beached themed party. I got buckets at the dollar tree and for her center pieces we are using mason jars filled with sand and shells and then
Putting pictures of her throughout the years into the jars and tying
A ribbon of twine around them. We are having chicken from wal- Mart, potato wedges, most. With meatballs( having catered)and then
Rolls from Sams club. Also two sheet cakes from Sams club. Planning
On around 250 people

I was looking for an alternative to the meat on a bun reception – after talking to many other I decided to have a desert party – we are going to be having Root Beer floats, ice cream sundaes with all types of fun toppings and a chocolate fountain with fruit. I was also thinking that just to off set the sweetness that we will have a nachos and cheese sections for those who need a little saltiness. We are planning on pre – scooping the ice cream ahead of time to make for easier serving. oh and of course the cake – I have also been able to barter babysitting services for the cake – some gardening and plants for the ice cream. We are having the party at a small local restaurant the is normally closed on Sunday afternoons – so no need for table and chair rentals and no cleaning !!! YEAH !!!

I did a graduation party for my husband last year and did the pulled pork on buns and it was a GREAT idea. Super inexpensive and it feeds plenty of people (we had about 50). It's easy to cook early in them morning by crock pot, then shred and keep warm for a long time.People also commented they were happy to not have to eat hot dogs/hamburgers or deli type sandwiches. You can still do chips and/or a potato salad, and don't forget fruit is super cheap this week (watermelon, strawberries etc.)

We are using the local Lions Club Park for my daughter's party. It has a shelter, with picnic tables; a building with a huge fridge to serve and store food; bathrooms; playground equipment; a ball field; and LIVE ANIMALS-DEER, DUCKS, GEESE! No tent, table and chair rental and a simple donation to the Lions Club!

We butchered two pigs(that we raised) last year, and I have all of the ham, except one we used at Christmas, and a turkey I got dirt cheap at Thanksgiving in the freezer. We will do the pulled pork as a backup just in case, and I can always freeze it to use some other time. DD wants potato salad, and brocolli – cauliflower salad (grandma is making that!). Cake made by a dear friend, so no cost, and bars made by everyone. I have made bars for nephews and cousin, so now they will return the favor. Piece of cake. Don't forget those cheap brownie mixes at Walmart to use too!

Whn my son graduated e few years ago to save on a big graduation cake from the grocery store I made about four cakes (all different ) out of the Cake Mix Doctor cookbooks. TThe cakes were super good and people were really impressed! My second son graduated two years after that and we had a very small party and I gave him a bigger check.

I will be hosting my first child's graduation open house NEXT year, but helped several friends with theirs over the last couple of years. I do a lot of other entertaining, and have found the dollar stores to be the BEST for decorations. They have a wide assortment of helium balloons for a dollar each, and all kinds of plastic tablecloths with matching plates, cups, napkins. I guess I haven't priced out the amount of plates vs buying them in bulk somewhere, but the balloons alone are a steal! Also, I plan on scouring the stores in a couple weeks for grad themed stuff (as long as there is no year on it!), and keeping them for next year. One great way to reduce decor cost is to only have one item say something, or be in your "theme"…say, your napkins. Then have solid colored (cheaper) cups and plates. I am planning on doing a mexican meal as I have read that is a cheaper meal to have, and most people like it!

Try brunch. I had a grad party last year. I made a bunch of frittatas (which can be searved hot, or room temp ), quick breads and muffins (made ahead of time), fruit, and homemade yogurt, coffee and juice. Our splurge was the ham from Honey baked and two cakes from Woullets. The ham and cakes could easly have been done cheaper and not many would notice. I bought all my paper goods from the paper warehouse next to the farmers market in Minneapolis, and was able to get my flowers and plants at the same time.

We made a Taco Bar for my son's Grad party last year. It was a hit. During Cinco de Mayo alot of the ingredients were at bargain prices and I used coupons to get an even better deal and used that time to stock up and store. It was easy to stock up and freeze the hamburger. We made a large container of lemonade and another with Sweet tea to save costs on beverages. Used a large crock pot and had hot nacho sauce and bought chips in large cases at Sams club. It was easy and a hit!

Perfect timing! My son wants a Chipotle or Jimmy John's themed party. Burritos would be easy, I think. Jimmy John's would cost about $150, which my husband actually is voting for. Maybe I should just go with that. I'm always trying to do things cheaper, though.

We will have our last graduation next year but I am in grad mode this year for ideas and deals. Here is what I have done with our last two grads for savings ideas. Instead of having our grads pick their own theme colors or what the class colors are we went with school color theme for napkins, plates, cups, containers for center pieces, serving platters or candy dishes and have reused extras or for the next grad…believe it or not it saves a lot. If anyone is like me I always want to have enough of these things so I just packed away everything we could reuse for the next child. By the third one it will have earned its cost. Oh and for center piece ideas here is a great money saver; buy flowers for each table or area that you want to fancy up that you will later use to plant in flower pots or in your garden; this way you will not have spent an extra nickel on flowers/center pieces for your party and there is nothing to wonder what to do with after the party. I bought spikes for each plant in the school colors to add to it (I saved those) and then bought some sort of colored wrap to put around the pot the pot to fancy that up too….easy easy and cheap; plus it looks so nice to have tables with flowers on them. Also keep going to the party stores and checking the clearance tables all year to see what you can get and make do with in your colors…….I just bought packages of24 heavy duty washable spoons for 25 cents a package/ it was $1.89!! I am going to make a mental note to keep going back there this year in hopes I may get lucky to pick up what I need in our school colors. Besides the whole lot of what you get of spoons etc…do not have to match exactly….no one is going to know that some plastic ware is slightly different than the others.

Good luck~Grad parties are stressful to plan and get ready for but well worth the effort….the day is so much fun!!!!

Our oldest graduated last year. Her party was held on a Friday night (after dinner) and we served ice cream sundaes. Fun, different, and inexpensive. We considered renting one of those ice cream freezers with the red and white striped tent over the top, but it was way less expensive to scoop the ice cream into bowls (for sundaes) and cups (for root beer floats) ahead of time, keep them on trays in the freezer, and bring one tray at a time out to a cooler. We had little crock pots (borrowed) with hot fudge, marshmallow, and some other fancy warm toppings made by friends, along with all of the other toppings you would expect. Her uncle made her cake as her grad gift. Bowls, forks,spoons, and table coverings (buy the large roll) were cheapest at Party City, cups at Target, and cake plates at Litin – by the Farmer's Market in Mpls. We got all of the napkins we needed, plus some fun centerpieces and other decorations at local thrift stores! We made her invitations and thank you notes with ideas from Archiver's free card-making classes, and used the photoprocessing freebies as PocketYourDollars suggested. We also developed photos to use as centerpieces, including events like preschool graduation, first lost tooth, that awkward 7th grade band concert, confirmation, you get the idea. We used many frames that we already had, and purchased more at the thrift store. We have peonies in our yard that made beautiful table decorations in thrift store and borrowed vases. Our one big splurge was a root beer keg rental from G. Will Liquors. It was actually cheaper than buying individual cans, but we did not use it all, and the cash deposit was about $80. Consider asking to borrow tables and chairs from your church, but be sure to give a nice donation.

This is our 4th grad party to plan. This year we are going with a "Taco in a Bag" theme – no paper products, except forks, napkins and dessert plates for the cake, fruit and bars that we are also having. We are purchasing bulk small bags of dorito chips at Sams, a friend has a recipe for taco meat using rice as a filler, so not using as much meat, taco condiments, cheese, sour cream and we're done. Cooking the taco meat ahead and heating day of is a huge perk. Friends are offering to make bars, so I don't even have to worry about that, just cutting up fruit. Also got leftover graduation decorations last year from a friend that is done with grad parties, extra chairs/tables are coming from friends and we have an inexpensive party (unless you count all the landscaping we are trying to quickly finish).

I have learned from planning all of the grad parties and other celebratory parties for my kids that it's best to keep it simple and have things that are low maintenance. It makes for a much more enjoyable day!

This is our first graduation this year. I have read some great ideas from all of you and I hope mine helps someone. If you are looking for balloons buy online you need to have a heilum tank (which can be pricey but if you have time look for a 40 50 percent of coupon from Michaels.) You can get the balloons online cheap. I used a sight called BargainBalloons.com most of the balloons I got were $0.56 each. It is flat rate shipping which is kinda high at $8.92 but if you know other people who need balloons also or if you are like me and hate to pay $2-$3 for balloons from the paper store just buy all the balloons you need for the year in one stop. Then the shipping cost is not so bad. I got 50 balloons in all and only spent $35 making the balloons only $0.70 each and $12.50 for the hellium tank (half off at Michaels) I am only spending about a dollar a piece for balloons. And they have a huge sellections even some I didn't see in stores.

Foil balloons are reusable! Since my daughter's grad party two years ago, I've been collecting them from various family parties and sports banquets for the past three years. Most people hate to add them to the garbage pile and happily to give them to me. Thankfully, it looks good for a business to be "green" and most party shops refill the balloons and add a new ribbon for a small fee. Here's the prices I'm looking at in my area:

I recommend cash for most graduates or a gift for someone you know very well. This is a very big event in the graduate's life. Cash is what they need and want, in most cases. Any amount is welcome. Dorm items can be useful if you know what they want and like. If you can make things, use your skill to personalize a needed dorm item. One of my daughter's favorite gifts was a set of personalized fluffy pink bath towels from her aunt and uncle. For my son's closest friends (that we also know and like), we ordered wooden pen sets and my husband laser engraved each graduate's name on the box and each pen in his shop. These pen sets cost us $8 each to order, but are worth far more in value and sentiment. I would avoid those little books, For the Graduate; it becomes irrelevant quickly, is impersonal and a waste of a couple of dollars. A handwritten note would be much better, adding your memories of the graduate, wishes for their future and maybe a funny story from when you were in college.

Balloon refill update!!! After calling twice in the past month and asking in person (all during the day hours), I confidently headed tonight to Dollar Tree with my 30 mylar balloons. You should have seen the looks I got from the two evening staff! First, I was asked if I had my receipt. (for what???) Then I explained the policy I was told by the day staff. "Who told you that?", he said. He shook his head and laughed. I looked at the growing line behind me and could feel the daggers in my back. I told him that the manager told me this at least 3 different times. He looked at the balloons, remarked that they were definitely "ours" and told me that he would refill them…for free. I started to question him and then realized I should just shut my mouth. Obviously, there is no written policy on refilling balloons at Dollar Tree in Knollwood. I will call the manager on Monday morning and offer to pay, if the evening staff got the policy wrong. Before using this green, economical way to use balloons, I would definitely get the policy in writing. I wonder if I would have this same problem at Party City, since party supplies are their main line of business. So, has anyone else tried refilling their mylar balloons?

We had a successful Pasta meal for my daughters grad party. Cost= ,.64 a serving for pasta, salad & breadsticks! We cooked 5 large roaster pans (disposable $1 each at dollar store), of Mostaciolli. The day before I boiled the noodles (free with double coupons), tossed in cold jarred pasta sauce (stocked up months before with $1 or less pasta sauce deals), diced tomatoes (coupons and stock up for 20¢ a can) and diced green peppers (Aldi's special at 3/$1, layered all items like a lasagna dish, with lots of shredded cheese (the most expensive, but stocked up and froze the cheese as I purchased on double coupon days approx $1 or less per 2 cup bag) and covered with tin foil (free with Q's). The next day plan about 2 -3 hours ahead of party, set oven temp to 350 and put in 2 roaster pans to heat and melt cheese. I had large electric roaster that I filled with 2" of water and placed the disposable pan right in the roaster to keep warm and ready for the guests. It went smooth and the Mostaciolli tasted great! It was a hit, I even set the garlic bread sticks (Wonder Bread Outlet, $1.40 per 8 bread sticks), in the oven to warm up, it was tasty on a semi rainy graduation party day, served with chopped salad (Sam's club $2.88 a bag, and free Kraft and Kens dressing collected at various Double coupon days.) Of course I over cooked and we froze some nice meals for later in the month! I had relatives pitch in and bring pans of bars and We had so much leftover, but it went very well.

For parents with 2014 grads, I have found a great deal on photo card party invites. Go to Sams Club, if you have a membership, to the photo lab. They offer quite a few nice looking choices of grad photo invites/announcements, and have them in two sizes, several colors, in 5″x7″ or a smaller size. They typically use 1-3 photos. You type your own text and have several font choices. 100 of them costs $25. Including envelopes, far cheaper than the $100. plus that photo invites thru Pear Tree or Tiny Prints would have cost me. We printed 1 invite today, so our grad could approve and then we will order 100 of them tomorrow. Also, last Sunday, May 4th, Party City had an ad in the Star Tribune with coupons. It’ s a separate ad, not in any of the sections. I think they were good for about 2-3 weeks. I am going to buy mostly solid tableware, but would like to have one item with a pattern for fun. We will purchase most of it at Sams Club, but will splurge with one patterned item from either Party City or Shindigz.com. (We live too far from Latin Paper-the savings is eaten us by the gas money to get there.) Does anyone have other suggestions on patterned grad items?

wish I would have seen this earlier, I just spent 180 on 50 graduation announcements from the school, no pics nothing! Live and learn…..now I need to figure out food and decorations, thanks for the tip.

I also went to Sam’s Club. Put your photo’s on a disc! I bought 100 for 25.00. I had to purchase a disk. I thought I could take photo’s from my iPad and use there wifi. So my advise is download them on a disk at home, it will save you time a money. They were developed in less the an hour. While I was there I had them do a few 8×10’s Cheap! Sam’s club was they way to go and they turned out AWESOME! Kelli

I created this year’s graduates party invite on walgreen.com I had about 50 designs to choose from–I clicked on 3 pics I wanted to put on the invite, typed in my own text. I believe the original cost of each 5×7 invite was $.75–but Walgreen’s always have deals going on, I punched in their deal code, and got 40% off the cost–so they were about $.40 each–I didn’t think that was bad at all. The time between me creating the invite, and picking the invites/envelopes up at Walgreen’s was less than an hour.

I’m about to throw my own college grad party (I’m 32 years old). I haven’t decided on a location but I know I’m going for a luau. I’ve always wanted a luau party growing up. Dollar tree has adorable luau decor this year. With two kids, I consider myself a good party planner on a budget. Let me tell you, less is more!! As long as you have enough food to feed everyone, its best to go simple on everything else. However, this is my first party for myself, and I’m hitting up dollar tree for all kinds of decorations.

I am an out of state parent coming to my sons graduation at the U May 14. I want to host a party on Friday the 15th and will likely bring the food with. I need a venue!!!! I am concerned about a park if the weather is not good. My sons apartment cannot accomodate 25 people. Any ideas on a venue that would allow me to bring in my own food and drink? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

To keep the pasta from getting soggy, precook the pasta until it is “al dente” meaning it is still firm or slightly undercooked. I toss the pasta with some olive oil and grated parmesan cheese, cover it and keep it in the fridge. When you are ready to serve, bring the pasta out and let it warm to room temperature. Then stir in the heated tomato sauce. I use steamer trays to keep the pasta warm during the party. They are very affordable at party stores – some dollar stores even have them. If that is not an option. use 2 serving trays with the bottom, slightly larger tray, filled with hot water and carefully place the serving tray containing the pasta on top. You will need to replace the water in the bottom tray to keep it warm. Remember to cover the serving tray lightly with foil to keep the heat in. Pasta is a great food to serve: very affordable and can keep for a long time. Good luck!

When both our boys graduated high school we bought a full graduation sheet cakes at SamsclubÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ best deal around and good! They used to put a rasberry filling in between the layers when son #1 graduated, but then they stopped :( We still ordered the chocolate/white sheet cake with the buttercream frosting for son #2 and it was so moist and delicious. Since we always had our party before graduation, everyone who came ordered their cakes from Samsclub as well! I am not sure of the price they currently charge, but I guarantee you still can’t beat it for quality and price! It has always been the best bang for the buck! They will also put a photo on it! Since I am a graphic artist, I took my sons invitation that I designed, had an 8×10 photo printed at Sams and then gave them the print and had it put on the cake. It had all of his grad info right on it, plus his pictureÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ therefore requiring NO other writing! I looked great! I will say that I also used their photo card service for the invitesÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ could not beat 100 for 25 bucks including silver foil lined envelopes!! It allowed me to design my own and then upload my design to their “blank” card. I also took his grad pics and then had Sams make all of the prints! I set the wallet photos on the table with the cake. You just can’t beat Samsclub!!

My family has always loved to cook their prize winning dishes to bring to family gatherings. I supply the hamburgers & hot dogs that are usually on sale all month at various supermarkets. We have a backyard that would accommodate 30-50 people comfortably. Up to a week ahead of any get together I recruit some close friends & family to help me with preparing the yard for a gathering like & bringing tables, chairs, decorations from dollar store, etc. Instead of graduation cake I make cupcakes and put graduation favors on top!

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